{"id":507383,"date":"2026-07-26T10:39:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T08:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=507383"},"modified":"2026-07-26T10:39:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T08:39:43","slug":"hapoel-jerusalem-signs-kenneth-lofton-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/hapoel-jerusalem-signs-kenneth-lofton-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Hapoel Jerusalem signs Kenneth Lofton Jr"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3203\" data-end=\"3434\"><strong data-start=\"3203\" data-end=\"3233\">Hapoel \u201cMidtown\u201d Jerusalem<\/strong> is pleased to announce the signing of <strong data-start=\"3272\" data-end=\"3302\">Kenneth (Kenny) Lofton Jr.<\/strong> The American forward\/center (23 years old, 1.98m) has agreed to a contract that will run through the end of the <strong data-start=\"3415\" data-end=\"3433\">2026\/27 season<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3436\" data-end=\"3897\">Lofton Jr. joins Hapoel after gaining experience in the <strong data-start=\"3492\" data-end=\"3528\">NBA, G League and Chinese league<\/strong>. He began his professional career in the NBA with the <strong data-start=\"3583\" data-end=\"3604\">Memphis Grizzlies<\/strong>, before also playing for the <strong data-start=\"3634\" data-end=\"3656\">Philadelphia 76ers<\/strong> and <strong data-start=\"3661\" data-end=\"3674\">Utah Jazz<\/strong>. Across two seasons in the NBA, he made 49 appearances, with his best performance coming in April 2023, when he scored <strong data-start=\"3794\" data-end=\"3831\">42 points and grabbed 14 rebounds<\/strong> in his first start for Memphis against the Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3899\" data-end=\"4276\">At the same time, Lofton Jr. established himself as one of the top players in the <strong data-start=\"3981\" data-end=\"3993\">G League<\/strong>. During the 2022\/23 season, he was named <strong data-start=\"4035\" data-end=\"4057\">Rookie of the Year<\/strong> while playing for the Memphis Hustle, and he was selected to the All-G League First Team twice during his two seasons in the competition. In 51 games, he averaged <strong data-start=\"4221\" data-end=\"4275\">23.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4278\" data-end=\"4598\">In October 2024, he moved to China and signed with the <strong data-start=\"4333\" data-end=\"4352\">Shanghai Sharks<\/strong>, becoming one of the biggest stars in the league. In his first season, he earned the <strong data-start=\"4438\" data-end=\"4466\">Chinese League MVP award<\/strong> after averaging <strong data-start=\"4483\" data-end=\"4538\">24.4 points, 12.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game<\/strong>. Last season, he also helped Shanghai win the championship.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4600\" data-end=\"4835\">Lofton Jr. was also one of the stars of the <strong data-start=\"4644\" data-end=\"4676\">2021 FIBA Under-19 World Cup<\/strong>, leading the United States national team to a gold medal. His performance in the final against France was one of the most memorable moments of the tournament.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4837\" data-end=\"5308\">The new Hapoel player shared his excitement about the move: <em data-start=\"4897\" data-end=\"5308\">\u201cI\u2019m happy to join Hapoel Jerusalem and begin my journey in European basketball. From the first moment, I was impressed by the club\u2019s high ambitions, and I want to thank coach Sasha Obradovi\u0107 and the management for the trust they have shown in me. I\u2019m already looking forward to arriving in Jerusalem, meeting the fans, getting to know my new teammates and fighting in every game for this club. Yalla Hapoel!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5310\" data-end=\"5753\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Head coach <strong data-start=\"5321\" data-end=\"5340\">Sasha Obradovi\u0107<\/strong> also welcomed the signing: <em data-start=\"5368\" data-end=\"5753\" data-is-last-node=\"\">\u201cKenny is a player with a rare combination of power, talent and the ability to impact the game. He will bring us a significant presence in the paint, rebounding strength and versatile offensive skills. He has proven himself at every stop throughout his career, and we are confident he will add important quality on both ends of the floor. We are delighted that he is joining Hapoel.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The American big man arrives in Israel after spells with Memphis, Philadelphia, Utah and Shanghai. He won the Chinese championship last season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":507381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[197,255],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[185,15727],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-507383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eurocup","category-israel","typology-official","typology-press-release-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hapoel Jerusalem signs Kenneth Lofton Jr - Sportando<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The American big man arrives in Israel after spells with Memphis, Philadelphia, Utah and Shanghai. 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